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Miliband says Britain can be 'beacon of light' and has to play its part 'rebuilding' world order
Miliband says his parents viewed Britain as “a beacon of light against the darkness, a country that stood for fundamental values freedom, democracy, the rule of law”. The postwar Labour government helped establish Nato and the United Nations, and ratified the convention on human rights, he says.
He goes on:
And I come to this conference today to tell you that it’s time to roll up our sleeves all over again, because once again the world order needs rebuilding anew.
We need to be honest about the world we confront. War has returned to Europe. Democratic norms are under threat as they haven’t been for generations. The international rule of law is being brazenly flouted. New threats have emerged from the climate crisis to AI.
There is only one response to these challenges – to fight for our values, the values my parents saw in Britain, values which today are more important than ever. Fighting for those values of democracy, the rule of law, protection for rights and freedoms is essential to tackle injustice and suffering.
But hear me well when I say this, it is also the only way to fight for our interests, because it is the real route to stability in the world and therefore peace and prosperity.
Key events
Labour will 'wipe the floor' with Badenoch in debate on defence because of Tories' record, Streeting claims
Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, addressed the Labour conference before Ed Miliband. Here are some of the key points from his speech.
Streeting claimed Labour would “wipe the floor” with the Tories in the debate over who was strongest on defence because of the opposition’s record. He said:
The Labour party has a proud record of standing with our political opponents in the national interest.
Clem Attlee did with Winston Churchill when he joined the wartime coalition.
Michael Foot supported Margaret Thatcher when Argentina invaded the Falklands.
And Keir Starmer supported Boris Johnson’s leadership on Ukraine.
But I am afraid we haven’t seen that responsible leadership from the current leader of the opposition.
Nor have we seen her party taking any responsibility for the consequences of their failure to fund defence …
So if Kemi Badenoch wants to go toe to toe with Labour on defence, we will wipe the floor with the Tories’ so comprehensively they will see their abysmal record reflected back at them.
Streeting compared his current job with his previous job as health secretary. He said:
Last year, I stood on this stage and spoke about a great legacy of the Attlee government. Our Health Service. Built on a simple principle: to provide freedom from fear - fear that illness would bring financial ruin.
And that Labour government built another great institution too – Nato - based on the same principle: to provide freedom from fear – fear that tyranny would once again bring catastrophe to Europe.
Bevan created the NHS.
Bevin founded NATO.
Two institutions born of the same generation.
He described the Attlee government’s decision to build a British nuclear deterrent as “another great Labour achievement”.
He defended Andy Burnham’s argument at PMQs recently about how prioritising national security should not undermine social security. He said:
I know that more spending on defence comes with choices and trade-offs.
But our critics on the right need to understand that you don’t make your country stronger by making our people poorer.
He described the new floating docks on the Clyde being announced today (see 7.54am and 9.59am) as part of “one of the biggest defence procurement decisions in a generation”.
And here is Miliband’s peroration.
My parents didn’t just observe a country fighting for values. They taught me that I have a responsibility to fight for them to.
There’s this phrase that people use about Holocaust survivors, survivor’s guilt.
I think my parents had something else, survivor’s responsibility.
Survivor’s responsibility to pass on the message to the generations that come next that we are here to leave the world a better place than we found it, to never walk by on the other side, to never be bystanders to oppression and injustice.
Those are the reasons I joined this party and so many of you did to.
You know, they say that as you age, you become more cynical.
Not me, not you, not us. I believe in our ability to change our country, in the world for the better now more than ever.
And I promise you, I promise you that every day as foreign secretary, every day as your Labour foreign secretary, I will fight for your values. Labour values, Britain’s values.
It was a terrific speech, easily the best of the conference so far, and just what delegates wanted to hear. John Healey will have a tough job matching it.
You were right’ - Miliband tells critics Labour was wrong on Gaza
As reported overnight, Miliband told the conference that pro-Palestinian campaigners were right to complain over the past two years about Labour not doing enough to challenge Israel over its actions in Gaza.
Miliband said:
I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people: we hear you.
You were right.
And under Andy’s leadership, we have reset our approach.
We call out ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank.
We call out the evidence of war crimes In Gaza.
We call out Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.
And we match words with actions.
We will ban the import of goods from illegal settlements.
We will disrupt the supply lines of British finance, British construction and British’s services for illegal settlements.
And when it comes to the attempt to destroy the two state solution, this party, this movement, this government, says:
We will not let you succeed.
This passage got the loudest and most sustained applause of any section of the speech.
Miliband says UK will use G20 presidency next year to lead global efforts to manage AI
Miliband said the government would use its presidency of the G20 next year to push for global efforts to manage AI.
He said:
The technological progress offered by AI, as we see in our daily lives, is inspiring, but the threat it poses, according to its own inventors, is daunting.
Now some are calling for us to act, but other tech companies are saying we should leave it all to them.
But friends, the lesson of history is that we cannot leave it to corporations to put in place the guardrails to serve the public interest. It is neither their purpose nor their motive. Theirs is to maximise profits.
Friends, we cannot and will not allow that to come at the expense of our children or indeed humanity.
That’s why, as part of our G20 presidency, next year, this country will lead the efforts to manage AI.
Miliband says parties that deny danger of climate crisis would as result 'threaten national security'
Miliband says investment in defence is “an absolutely core part of this government’s foreign policy”.
And he moves on to the threat posed by the climate crisis.
We know the effects will spread across borders, and we know that future generations will hold us in infamy if we leave them with climate disaster unaddressed.
So let us therefore ask each and every party, where do you stand on tackling the climate crisis? Where do you stand on defending our way of life?
And I say to those parties that deny, delay and dissemble on the climate threat, your position would leave our country unsafe and threaten our national security.
Miliband is referring in particular to Reform UK and the Conservatives.
Miliband calls for 'stronger, deeper partnership' with EU
Miliband says Britain needs a “stronger, deeper partnership” with the EU.
If there is one lesson that I have seen demonstrated to me again and again in this job, it is this Europe is not just our geography, but so much more.
It is how we pursue our values from climate to the Middle East. It’s how we pursue our interests, from trade to defence. It’s where we build and protect our alliances, so it is not simply Britain acting alone, but Britain with others, and on economics, on defence, on security.
I say to this conference, our future lies in a stronger, deeper partnership with the European Union.
Turning to Russia, Miliband says “the future security of all of Europe is on the line” in the war in Ukraine.
He goes on:
If Putin wins, we would have allowed war and force to beat sovereignty and self-determination on our continent.
Now, I am proud that since 2022, under successive governments, Britain has stepped up our military aid, stepped up our humanitarian support, and the British people have stepped up to taking in Ukrainian refugees.
Friends, I say today we will never give in to Russia’s threats that we must stand aside and abandon the people of Ukraine.
Miliband says Britain can be 'beacon of light' and has to play its part 'rebuilding' world order
Miliband says his parents viewed Britain as “a beacon of light against the darkness, a country that stood for fundamental values freedom, democracy, the rule of law”. The postwar Labour government helped establish Nato and the United Nations, and ratified the convention on human rights, he says.
He goes on:
And I come to this conference today to tell you that it’s time to roll up our sleeves all over again, because once again the world order needs rebuilding anew.
We need to be honest about the world we confront. War has returned to Europe. Democratic norms are under threat as they haven’t been for generations. The international rule of law is being brazenly flouted. New threats have emerged from the climate crisis to AI.
There is only one response to these challenges – to fight for our values, the values my parents saw in Britain, values which today are more important than ever. Fighting for those values of democracy, the rule of law, protection for rights and freedoms is essential to tackle injustice and suffering.
But hear me well when I say this, it is also the only way to fight for our interests, because it is the real route to stability in the world and therefore peace and prosperity.
Ed Miliband says experience of his 'refugee' parents informs his stance as foreign secretary
Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, is addressing the conference now.
He starts by talking about his values as foreign secretary have been informed by the experience of his parents.
I want to start today by telling you about the spirit that animates my work as foreign secretary driven by two refugees, a world away from us here today.
The first of them walked 100km from Brussels to Ostend with his father, leaving behind his mother and his sister, to take one of the last boats to Britain to flee the Nazi invasion. He learned English. He joined the Royal Navy, and he fought fascism.
He would tell stories of being at sea, watching the lights of the D-Day landings. And he would say it softly, but I know he always felt an incredible sense of pride that he had played his part in defending and defeating the Nazis.
The other refugee spent her childhood in hiding in Poland. She faced experiences that no child should face, the loss of her father in a concentration, as well as separation from her mother and sister.
She only survived because, unlike 60 family members, she was saved by the heroism of the bravest people, ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Then she got to Britain after the war as a teenager, learned English and built a life.
Those two refugees were my father and mother, my dad and my mum. And I want to start today by saying to you that their history, my family history, means it is the honour of my life to be your Labour foreign secretary.
Healey's fiscal headroom could be cut by around £6.5bn due to falling immigration, report says
John Healey, the chancellor, may have his fiscal headroom reduced by around £6.5bn because of the sharp fall in net immigration numbers, the Times reports.
In their story, Patrick Maguire and Oliver Wright explain:
The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank estimated last month that the success of Shabana Mahmood’s reforms, which have led to net migration being cut to the low hundreds of thousands, could cost Healey about £4bn.
Labour sources familiar with the budget process, however, said that the figure was now closer to £6.5bn. The OBR’s migration forecasts have been consistently higher than real numbers in recent years.
Increased migration is judged by the OBR to have a positive impact on the government’s finances as most of those entering the UK are of working age who pay taxes and largely consume fewer public services. However, critics claim that this is a blunt measure and does not take into account the longer-term costs of migrants in healthcare and pensions.
Treasury officials told the Times that the numbers it was quoting were “pure speculation”, but they did not deny that falling immigration would cut government revenue.
Alex Norris, the justice secretary, is expected to announce that the government’s plans to reduce access to jury trials will be watered down, Andrew McDonald and Megan McElroy report in Politico’s London Playbook briefing. They say:
Norris is preparing to water down his predecessor’s proposals on scrapping jury trials in all but the most serious cases in the coming weeks, my colleague Sam Blewett hears from two senior officials. Expect to see an amendment to the Courts and Tribunals Bill laying out the details ahead of the legislation returning on Oct. 13.
Wig watch: Burnham indicated in the summer that his “instinct” was to find a way of “not reducing access to jury trial.” The reforms are still being described in the MoJ as “major structural reforms” — but the officials said they’re looking to move closer to the original recommendations by Brian Leveson. David Lammy, the previous justice sec, went further than Leveson, by taking his recommendation for judge-and-magistrate panels and opting for single-judge courts, among other things.
